Multimedia queue services

ABSTRACT

Techniques are presented for providing multimedia queue services. A multimedia queue manager manages queues of subscribers. The queues include selections for multimedia. The multimedia queue manager schedules broadcasts for the selections and informs recording devices of the subscribers to record the selections during those broadcasts. Moreover, the multimedia queue manager updates the queues in response to actions of the subscribers and/or actions of the recoding devices of the subscribers.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/610,025 filed Sep. 14, 2004, entitled “Movie QueuesService”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD

The invention relates generally to multimedia processing and moreparticularly to techniques for managing and delivering multimedia viaqueue services.

BACKGROUND

The delivery of multimedia (e.g., text, audio, graphics, images, video,television, etc.) has experienced tremendous growth and advances inrecent years. For example, cable providers have launched a variety ofVideo on Demand (VOD) services, where subscribers can select movies toview at a date and time of their liking. As still a further example,subscribers may receive live television feeds or replays of televisionprogramming via World Wide Web (WWW) browsers or media players over theInternet.

One problem associated with providing VOD and other multimedia dataservices on demand, is that bandwidth may quickly be overcome withpopular programming or multimedia selections being downloaded. Forexample, if a movie is hugely popular, then it may be selected by alarge number of subscribers to view at roughly the same point in time.This can cause the network to degrade and subscribers may becomefrustrated with the delays experienced by them in waiting for theirdesired movie to arrive on their devices or subscribers may befrustrated with interruptions that they may experience if the desiredmovie is being streamed to multimedia players of the subscribers.

Another problem is that selections may be scheduled for broadcast, suchthat rather than having to download a selection over the network, theselection could easily be recorded by a subscriber and stored locallyfor subsequent consumption. However, communicating broadcast schedulesor relying on subscribers to set their recording devices for recordingat a time of the broadcast is often not practical with currenttechniques used in the industry. As a result, a selection may have to berepetitively rebroadcast or downloaded before each subscriber desiringthe selection has it for viewing.

Moreover, not only is distribution cost a factor for a broadcaster insupplying multimedia on demand, but subscriber satisfaction is also asignificant factor for the broadcaster. Subscribers to multimedia maybecome disgruntled with a provider because performance or response timefor desired selections is not acceptable to them. So, customersatisfaction and loyalty can be adversely impacted if selections are notdelivered in an acceptable fashion to the subscribers. This may meanthat even when a broadcaster resolves its distribution expenses in anacceptable manner that a subscriber may be satisfied with, a previouslydisgruntled subscriber may be long gone and unlikely to be swayed toreturn to that broadcaster.

SUMMARY

In various embodiments, techniques for providing multimedia queueservices are taught. In an embodiment, a multimedia queue service systemis taught. The multimedia queue service system includes a multimediaqueue manager and a plurality of queues. The multimedia queue managermanages the queues, where each queue is associated with a subscriber.The multimedia queue manager also schedules broadcasts of selectivemultimedia and informs subscribers, via entries in their correspondingqueues, of the broadcasts. Furthermore, the multimedia queue managerinforms subscribers, via their entries in their respective queues, ofpredicted availability for particular multimedia identified in theentries of the queues.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a multimedia queue service system, according toan example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a method for a multimedia queue managementservice, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram representing some resources and a different exampleperspective of the multimedia queue management service processing ofFIG. 2, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a method for a subscriber queue service thatinteracts with the multimedia queue management service of FIG. 2,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a method of another multimedia queue managementservice, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of some resources and a different exampleperspective of the multimedia queue management service of FIGS. 2 and 5and the subscriber queue service of FIG. 4, according to an exampleembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a multimedia queue service system 100, accordingto an example embodiment. The multimedia queue service system 100 isimplemented in a machine-accessible or computer-readable medium and isaccessible over a network.

FIG. 1 is presented for purposes of illustration only and is notintended to limit embodiments of the multimedia queue service system100, since it is readily apparent that some components of the FIG. 1 maybe subsumed into other components, that additional components may beadded, that some components may be situated differently, and/or thatsome components may be deleted; all without departed from the beneficialteachings presented herein and below.

The multimedia queue service system 100 includes a multimedia queuemanager 101, and a plurality of queues 102A-102B. In some embodiments,the multimedia queue service system 100 may also include a data store103. Each of these will now be discussed in turn.

The multimedia queue manager 101 process in an environment that isexternal to subscribers. Subscribers are consumers of multimedia. Themultimedia may include combinations or text, audio, video, television,graphics, images, interactive applications or services, and the like. Inan embodiment, the environment of the multimedia queue manager 101 isthe same environment as a broadcaster. A broadcaster is an entity orservice that broadcasts multimedia and permits multimedia on demand orVideo on Demand (VOD). To broadcast the multimedia the broadcaster usesa network 110 and network communications, such as satellite, cable,Internet, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Cellular, Radio Frequency (RF),T1, or a variety of other wired, wireless, or combination of wired andwireless. In an embodiment, the broadcaster is a satellite provider oftelevision services to subscribers, where the network 110 is satellitebased.

The multimedia queue manager 101 interacts with and manages queues 102Awithin its environment. The queues 102A correspond to other duplicatequeues 102B residing within a local environment of the subscribers. Eachsubscriber is associated with a queue 102A and 102B. The queue manager101 keeps the two versions of a particular queue 102A and 102B insynchronization with one another by interacting with services processingin a subscriber's environment over the network 110.

In an embodiment, these services process on multimedia recorder 120;that recorder 120 may be a personal video recorder (PVR), a digitalvideo recorder (DVR), a set-top box (STB) capable of recordingmultimedia, or any processing device enabled for network communicationsand enabled to record and in some cases play multimedia.

Each subscriber has two duplicate versions of a particular queue 102Aand 102B. One is initially and locally managed, such as by a multimediarecorder 120, the other is directly managed by the multimedia queuemanager 101. Also, the multimedia queue manager 101 keeps the twoduplicate versions in synchronization. This may occur by directlyinspecting a queue 102B within the environment of the subscriber or byinteracting with a multimedia recorder 120 or STB of the subscriber byreceiving event notifications of changes in a queue 102B, so as topermit updates to occur in the corresponding queue 102A.

It is however to be understood, that in some cases a single queue 102Aor 102B may exist and that single queue 102A or 102B may reside in theexternal environment to the subscriber or the local environment of thesubscriber. Metadata or control data may be used within the environmentnot have the single queue 102A or 102B to effectively manage and consumeinformation associated with the single queue 102A or 102B and to keepthe single queue 102A or 102B in synchronization between the twoenvironments. Therefore, although FIG. 1 shows two duplicate queues, oneof ordinary skill in the art recognizes that alternative approaches ortechniques are possible and such alternatives are intended to fallwithin the scope of the embodiments presented herein.

Each non-empty entry within the queue 102A and 102B includes metadata.The metadata may include a variety of information, such as a descriptionand/or identifier for a particular selection of the multimedia; a flagindicating if the selection has been downloaded and recorded by thesubscriber, such as via a multimedia recorder 120; and/or availabilityinformation for the selection if that selection is not yet available.

This information within the non-empty entries of the queue 102A and 102Bis managed and inspected by the multimedia queue manager 101 and isconsumed by the subscriber to view multimedia selections that they haveselected to view or have recorded. Consumption may occur via a STP, amultimedia recorder 120, or any other service processing within thelocal environment of the subscriber and enabled to read and process theinformation of the queue 102B for purposes of presenting the informationin visual and/or audio format on a display and/or audio enabled device,such as monitors, televisions, speakers, etc.

A queue 102A and 102B is initially populated by a subscriber. In anembodiment, the subscriber is presented with an interface, via a STB orany other processing device, where a catalogue or data store 103 ofavailable multimedia selections (e.g., movies, old television programs,presentations, etc.) are available for viewing and recording within thelocal environment of the subscribers. The subscriber may use selectiondevices, such as remotes, keypads, and the like to query the data store103 and make selections of multimedia archives or data store 103. Theselections are stored in the subscriber's queue 102A and 102B.

The multimedia queue manager 101 detects non-empty entries in asubscriber's queue 102A and then decides whether the selection ofmultimedia included within the entry is immediately available forrecording by the subscriber, is currently scheduled for a broadcast, oris to be scheduled for a broadcast.

The multimedia queue manager 101 then communicates over the network 110with a service within the local environment of the subscriber or thesubscriber's multimedia recorder 120 and directs one of these entitiesto record the broadcast of a selection or set a recording to occur for aselection identified within an entry of the subscriber's queue 102A and102B.

Instructions communicated by the multimedia queue manager 101 may tellthe service or recorder 120 to record on a define channel for a certaincalendar date, at a certain time of day, and for a certain length oftime. It should also be noted that because the broadcast for a givenmultimedia selection may accommodate all existing subscribers thatdesire that selection and because the multimedia queue manager 101determines schedules and interfaces with services or recorders 120within the local environments of those subscribers, a broadcast can beoptimized in a number of manners determined most beneficial by themultimedia queue manager 101.

Thus, the multimedia queue manager 101 may evaluate a variety of factorsin determining when a broadcast for a given selection should occur. Someof these factors may include, but are not limited to, a price paid bysubscribers for a given selection to be broadcast, a total number ofsubscribers that desire to purchase the given selection, a bandwidthload and existing schedule of a broadcaster that will perform thebroadcast, a cost associated with performing the broadcast, wait timesexperienced by subscribers that have been waiting for the givenselection to become available, probability of successful broadcast basedon collected history, probability of consumption by the subscriber basedon a different collected history etc. The multimedia queue manager 101uses the factors and any custom algorithms to optimize when it is mostbeneficial to the broadcaster and subscriber to receive the broadcast ofa given selection for recordings in an acceptable timeframe. The customalgorithms may also include the impact of customer satisfaction in beingexcessively delayed in receiving a desired broadcast.

In an embodiment, the broadcast itself may not be a single contiguousblock of time for a given selection that occurs on a single channel. Inother words, the broadcast may be logically viewed as a series ofsub-broadcasts. In fact, the given selection may be broadcast indifferent orders such that the middle of the selection broadcast first,the end second, and the first part last. The multimedia queue manager101 maintains the schedules of what is needed by subscribers accordingto their queues 102A and 102B and knows what portion of a selection tobe broadcast, how sub-broadcasts should be managed, etc. In theseembodiments having discontinuous and sub-broadcast features, theservices or recorders 120 within the local environment of thesubscribers are enabled to reorder and assemble a given selection into acontiguous selection for storage and viewing by the subscribers.

If a given selection within an entry of a subscriber's queue 102A and102B does not have an existing broadcast scheduled, then the multimediaqueue manager 101 is enabled to determine when a broadcast will occur orpredict when it will occur. This information may then be updated to theentry of the queue 102A and 102B, such that an affected subscriber cansee that a given selection is predicted to be available for recording ona certain date and time. As predictions are validated or modified whenthe multimedia queue manager 101 modifies or generates firm schedulesthen updates are made to the entry of the queue 102A and 102B toproperly inform the affected subscribers of the changes.

Thus, the multimedia queue manager 101 is designed to keep the queues102A and 102B in synchronization, generate schedules for broadcasts,determine when a broadcast should include discontinuous orsub-broadcasts, update information viewable by the subscribers in thequeues 102A and 102B, and predict when broadcasts may occur if noschedule is yet available.

The multimedia queue service system 100 is particularly beneficial withVOD for Satellite 110 and/or Cable 110 providers, since this allowsarchives of movies or television selections to be broadcast in a costeffective manner at a single time to accommodate a large swath ofsubscribers. This process is optimized by the multimedia queue manager101. As a single broadcast occurs, or series of sub-broadcasts thatlogically represents a single broadcast, subscribers' PVR's 120 areautomatically set to record and/or to assemble the movies and make themavailable to the subscribers within the local environments of thesubscribers. It is also to be understood that the techniques are alsobeneficial with other networks 110 (e.g., Internet, etc.) and with othermedia recorders/players 120 (e.g., Real Player®, etc.).

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a method 200 for a multimedia queue managementservice, according to an example embodiment. The method 200 (hereinafter“multimedia queue management service”) is implemented in amachine-accessible and readable medium. In an embodiment, the processingof the multimedia queue management service represents processing of themultimedia queue manager 101 of the multimedia queue service system 100of FIG. 1.

At 210, the multimedia queue management service presents a queue to asubscriber for subscriber population and modification. Initially, thequeue is empty or null until the subscriber takes one or more actions topopulate the queue. Additionally, although the term “queue” is used, theconcept of “queue” may be synonymous with “list” or any structure that asubscriber would comprehend as a repository associated with thesubscriber to house selections and information about selections, where aselection is multimedia. Different multimedia is catalogued in arepository that the subscriber may search and/or browse.

At 220, the multimedia queue management service receives selections formultimedia from the subscriber; these selections are received in orassociated with entries of the subscriber's queue. Once entries of thequeue are populated with selections from a subscriber, the multimediaqueue management service, at 230, determines availability for theselections.

The multimedia queue management service may determine availability in anumber of manners. For example, at 231, it may be determined that someselections are immediately available, indicating that these selectionsare being broadcast immediately and can be recorded immediately.Alternatively, at 231, it may be determined that other selections arescheduled to be broadcast and available at a later calendar date and/ortime. In still other embodiments, at 232, it may be determined that noschedule exists for some selections and in these cases a prediction ismade as to when it estimated that these selections may be broadcast.

Once the multimedia queue management service determines the availabilityof the selections within the entries of the queue, at 240, themultimedia queue management service notifies or communicates with thesubscriber via the entries of the queue with information to indicate tothe subscriber when available is to occur or is predicted to occur. Thisallows the subscriber to know what the plan is to receive their desiredmultimedia selections.

In an embodiment, at 250, the multimedia queue management service maycalculate a schedule to broadcast a number of the selections. A varietyof factors may be used to optimize the schedule for purposes ofachieving the proper balance between revenues of a broadcaster andexpectations or satisfaction of the subscribers. Example factors andtechniques to strike this proper balance were presented above with themultimedia queue service system 100. Furthermore, the broadcast mayactually be a series of sub-broadcast that logically represents a singlebroadcast.

According to an embodiment, at 260, the multimedia queue managementservice may set a recording device of a subscriber to record theselections if availability is delayed. In other words, the multimediaqueue management service instructs the recording devices to record abroadcast or sub-broadcasts on defined channels for a certain calendardates, at certain times of the day, and for certain lengths of time.This interaction may be automatic requiring no subscriber intervention.In other cases, a manual confirmation may be used to have the subscribercommit to setting the recording device.

In yet another embodiment, at 270, the multimedia queue managementservice updates entries of the queue when events are received. Theevents may indicate a variety of circumstances occurring within thelocal environment of the subscriber. For example, an event may indicatethat a recording succeeded or failed. For a failure, the multimediaqueue management service may reattempt to set a recording device torecord when the selection that failed to record is broadcast again. Fora success, the entry queue may be updated so that the subscriber seesthe multimedia selection is available on his/her recording device forimmediate viewing or playing. Other events may indicate that thesubscriber deleted entries of his/her queue and/or added selections toentries of his/her queue.

FIG. 3 is a diagram representing some resources and a different exampleperspective of the multimedia queue management service processing ofFIG. 2, according to an example embodiment. The resources and theprocessing of the multimedia queue management service are implemented ina machine-accessible and readable medium and are accessible over anetwork.

In FIG. 3, the client queue manager 310 represents the queue managementservice processing of FIG. 2 and provides a more detailed view ofprocessing and synchronization of some of that processing.

Initially, at 311, a queue is presented to a subscriber. At 312, thesubscriber modifies the queue choices and, perhaps, queue priorities.The queue is then synchronized, at 320.

At 330, queue updates may be received periodically from the subscribers.In an embodiment, at 340, this information may be used to update a queuehistory and trends in a database or data store 345.

At 350, a broadcast schedule for most profitable events to thebroadcaster and the subscriber is calculated. This may entail accessinga scheduling and cost database 351. Also, at 350, the schedule may beapproximated for events below a critical mass. To achieve this, a medialibrary and metadata database 352 may be consulted.

At 360, schedules are synchronized with subscribers or clients andcommunicated to the client queue manager 310. Now, at 361, events may beset to record on subscriber devices for the events based on the setschedule. The recording is then attempted, at 362, and success orfailure of that attempt is noted and fed to the processing, at 320, thatagain synchronizes the queues.

Again, FIG. 3 is presented for purposes of illustrating the queuemanagement service of FIG. 2 and some resources that may be consulted ina different manner and from a different perspective. It is presented forpurposes of illustration and comprehension.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a method 400 for a subscriber queue service thatinteracts with the multimedia queue management service of FIG. 2,according to an example embodiment. The method 400 (herein after“subscriber queue service”) is implemented in a machine-accessible andreadable medium. In an embodiment, the subscriber queue servicerepresents processing of a subscriber's multimedia recorder thatinteracts with the multimedia queue management service represented bythe method 200 of FIG. 2. According to an embodiment, the interactionsoccur over a network (e.g., wired, wireless, or combination of wired andwireless). In an embodiment, the network is a satellite network or acable network. In other embodiments, the network is cellular, telephonebased, or Internet based.

At 410, the subscriber queue service receives instructions from a queuemanger (QM) to record a selection for multimedia. The selection wasidentified in an entry of a queue. The queue is associated with a givensubscriber. Information about the queue is maintain and changed withinthe local environment of the subscriber and also within an externalenvironment that is separate from the subscriber and local to the QM. Inan embodiment, the QM is the multimedia queue manager 101 of themultimedia queue service system 100. In still another embodiment, theprocessing of the QM is represented by the method 200 of FIG. 2.

The received recording instructions are processed on a recording devicewithin the local environment of a subscriber. The instructions mayinclude information such as record on a defined channel on a definedcalendar date at a defined time and for a defined length of time. Insome cases, the instructions may be more complex information thesubscriber queue service to set the recording device to record multipletimes for a single selection and to also assemble the selection once allrecordings have successfully recorded. These complex instructions areassociated with sub-broadcasts that represent a single logicalbroadcast, as presented above with the descriptions of FIGS. 1 and 2.

At 420, the subscriber queue service attempts to record pursuant to thereceived instructions. A variety of circumstances may prevent arecording from occurring a set time. For example, the broadcast servicemay be down due to a storm, power interruption, etc. As another otherexample, a subscriber may have his/her recording device powered off orit may malfunction for some reason. Assuming services and equipment areoperation as expected, then, at 421, a successful recording of a givenselection occurs.

At 430, the subscriber queue service reports information to the QM inresponse to the attempt to record. In some embodiments, the informationis passed as messages or events to the QM over the network. In othercases, the information is passed as added metadata or detail to aparticular entry of the subscriber queue that was associated with theselection, and the QM synchronizes with the queue on a periodic orregular basis. In embodiments, at 431, where an attempt failed torecord, the subscriber queue service may also communicate the failurevia events, messages, or updates to queue entries.

According to an embodiment, at 440, the subscriber queue servicemaintains the selection as an entry within the subscriber's queue andthat queue also includes a variety of other entries having differentmultimedia selections. Each entry may include different information thatis kept in synchronization via communication between the QM and thesubscriber queue service. Thus, some entries may be associated withscheduled broadcasts for recording, some may include successfulrecordings immediately available, some may include predicted broadcast,and some may include failed recordings awaiting future scheduling orprediction.

In some embodiments, at 450, entries are updated in response to theattempts to record to indicate whether a success or failure occurred inthe manners discussed above. In other instances, at 460, the subscriberqueue service reports modifications to the queue to the QM using avariety of techniques discussed above as well.

The subscriber queue service processes within the local environment ofthe subscriber. It may be that the subscriber queue service processes ona recording device of the subscriber, such as, by way of example only, aPVR. In other cases the subscriber queue service may process on a STB,computer, or any other processing device and communicate with arecording device of the subscriber. The subscriber queue servicecommunicates over a network with the QM to receive instructions aboutrecording selections and to keep subscriber queues in synchronizationwith the QM.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a method 500 of another multimedia queuemanagement service, according to an example embodiment. The method 500is implemented as instructions in a machine-accessible and readablemedium. When the instructions are executed by a machine, the processingof the instructions presents an alternative view to the processing ofthe method 200 of FIG. 2. Also, in an embodiment, the processing ofinstructions represents the processing of the multimedia queue manager101 of the multimedia queue service system 100 of FIG. 1.

The medium may be removable, fixed storage, and/or memory associatedwith a device. So, the medium may be interfaced to a machine anduploaded, acquired by the machine over a network as a download, oracquired from existing storage or memory of a machine. When the machineloads and accesses the instructions, the processing depicted in FIG. 5is enabled within the machine.

At 510, the instructions manage queues for subscribers. The queues arelists of multimedia selections for subscribers. Each entry within thequeue may include a multimedia selection or may be empty. Other metadatamay be included in the non-empty entries to convey information to thesubscribers or the instructions. In an embodiment, a subscriber accessesa catalogue of multimedia selections and uses a selection device orinput device to associated desired selection with entries of his/herqueue or list.

At 520, the instructions schedule when particular ones of the selectionsare to be broadcast. The instructions interact with a broadcast scheduleof a broadcaster for purposes of developing the schedule. In anembodiment, at 521, the instructions may also be enabled to optimizewhen the broadcast is to occur based on or in response to a variety offactors. Examples of this optimization and the factors were presentedabove with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2.

At 530, the instructions notify recorders associated with thesubscribers as to when a broadcast is to occur. This permits services onthe recorders or services interfaced to the recorders within the localenvironments of the subscribers to make a setting to record thebroadcast. An example service for performing this communication with theinstructions and to set the recording was presented above with themethod 400 of FIG. 4.

In an embodiment, at 540, the instructions may modify entries of thequeues with information about the scheduling. The information may beviewed descriptively by the subscribers so as to set expectations as towhen certain multimedia selection are to become available on the localrecorders of the subscribers.

According to an embodiment, at 550, the instructions may alsodynamically and in real time process events that are received from therecorders. Some of these events may include indications of successfulrecordings or indications or unsuccessful recordings. Examples of theseevents and other events were presented above with FIG. 4.

In yet another embodiment, at 560, the instructions may initiate orcause the initiation of a scheduled broadcast with the broadcaster. Insome cases, at 570, the initiating may actually be for a series ofsub-broadcasts that represent a single logical broadcast. Examples ofsuch a scenario were provided above with respect to FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of some resources and a different exampleperspective of the multimedia queue management services of FIGS. 2 and 5and the subscriber queue service of FIG. 4, according to an exampleembodiment. The resources and processing depicted in FIG. 6 areimplemented in machines and/or machine accessible media and areoperational to communicate over a network.

The diagram of FIG. 6 is presented for purposes of illustratingprocessing that may occur on devices of a subscriber, referred to hereinas a client 610 and processing that may occur on devices associated witha multimedia queue management service, referred to herein as server 620.The blocks on the left illustrate processing of the client 610 and theblocks on the right illustrate processing of the server 620. Moreover,the order or sequence of processing is vertically illustrated via thetime block 630, such that a block occurring at the top of the diagramoccurs before a block that appears at the bottom of the diagram.

With respect to the server 620 processing, at 621, queues are managedfor subscribers. Again, the queues have multimedia selections as entrieswithin the queues. At 622, particular events are scheduled as contiguousbroadcasts or as fragmented broadcasts that may later be assembled. Theevents are scheduled to optimize network utilization, revenues, andsubscriber satisfaction. A variety of factors may be used includingcosts, critical mass interest, and other factors discussed andenumerated herein and above.

At 623, the schedule is synchronized and receivers or recording devicesof the subscribers are notified. Finally, at 624, the events arebroadcasts based on the set schedules as contiguous chunks of time or asdiscontinuous or fragmented portions.

From the client 610 perspective of processing, a subscriber queue ismanaged at 611, such that subscribers' queues receive updates oninformation related to their queue entries and with new recordingschedules. At 612, recordings are set up on recording devices of thesubscriber in response to the schedule information. At 613, the eventsare recorded on the recording devices or an attempt is at least made torecord. At 614, events are processed for the recordings, such assuccessful recording events or unsuccessful recording events. In somecases, at 614, the queue is updated with availability of newly cachedevents.

Again, the diagram of FIG. 6 is presented for purposes of illustrationand comprehension of the queue management services and the subscriberservices of FIGS. 2, 4, and 5.

It is now understood, how multimedia on demand or VOD may be moreefficiently achieved via scheduled and controlled broadcasts associatedwith a broadcaster. This permits better bandwidth management of anetwork, improves subscriber satisfaction, and maximizes revenue for abroadcaster.

Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the artupon reviewing the above description. The scope of embodiments shouldtherefore be determined with reference to the appended claims, alongwith the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b) and willallow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature and gist of thetechnical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that itwill not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of theclaims.

In the foregoing description of the embodiments, various features aregrouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting that the claimed embodiments have more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Description of the Embodiments, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate exemplary embodiment.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a multimedia queuemanager implemented in a computer-readable medium and to execute on aprocessing device; and a plurality of queues implemented in acomputer-readable medium, the multimedia queue manager being configuredto manage the plurality of queues, each queue within the plurality ofqueues being configured to store metadata that include identifiers ofselected multimedia items that have been selected by a differentsubscriber among a group of subscribers, each queue within the pluralityof queues being a different list of identifiers for a differentsubscriber among the group of subscribers, the multimedia queue managerbeing configured to schedule a delivery of a common multimedia itemwhose identifier is stored in each queue within the plurality of queuesto a group of devices associated with the group of subscribers, thedelivery of the common multimedia item to the group of devices beingscheduled based on a number of subscribers in the group of subscriberswhose queues each store the identifier of the common multimedia item,the multimedia queue manager being configured to notify the group ofdevices associated with the group of subscribers as to when thescheduled delivery of the common media item is to occur.
 2. The systemof claim 1 further comprising, a data store configured to house andindex a variety of multimedia items, wherein the data store is to beaccessed by the multimedia queue manager to perform the delivery byacquiring the common multimedia item.
 3. The system of claim 2, whereinthe data store is configured to be presented to the subscribers; andwherein the subscribers select desired multimedia items and insertidentifiers of the selected multimedia items into entries of theircorresponding queues.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the multimediaqueue manager is configured to direct the devices associated with thegroup of subscribers to record the common multimedia item.
 5. The systemof claim 1, wherein the multimedia queue manager is configured toschedule the delivery of the common multimedia item based on at leastone of a bandwidth load, a price paid by subscribers for the commonmultimedia item, wait times experienced by subscribers waiting for thecommon multimedia item, a probability of a successful delivery based oncollected history, or a probability of consumption of a subscriber basedon a different collected history.
 6. A method implemented in a computerreadable medium and to execute on a processing device for performing themethod, comprising: receiving, from each subscriber among a group ofsubscribers, an identifier of a common multimedia item whose identifieris stored in an entry in each queue among a plurality of queues thatrespectively correspond to the group of subscribers, each queue withinthe plurality of queues being configured to store metadata that includesidentifiers of selected multimedia items that have been selected by adifferent subscriber among the group of subscribers, each queue withinthe plurality of queues being a different list of identifiers for adifferent subscriber among the group of subscribers; scheduling atransmission of the common multimedia item whose identifier is stored ineach queue within the plurality of queues to a group of devicesassociated with the group of subscribers, the delivery of the commonmultimedia item to the group of devices being scheduled based on anumber of subscribers in the group of subscribers whose queues eachstore the identifier of the common multimedia item; and notifying thegroup of devices associated with the group of subscribers as to when thescheduled transmission of the common media item is to occur.
 7. Themethod of claim 6 further comprising, causing the devices to record thecommon multimedia item.
 8. A non-transitory machine-accessible mediumincluding instructions thereon, the instructions being executable by amachine to perform operations comprising: managing a plurality of queuesfor a group of subscribers, each queue among the plurality of queuesbeing configured to store metadata that includes identifiers of selectedmultimedia items that have been selected by a different subscriber amongthe group of subscribers, each queue within the plurality of queuesbeing a different list of identifiers for a different subscriber amongthe group of subscribers; scheduling when a common multimedia item whoseidentifier is stored in each queue within the plurality of queues is tobe delivered to a group of devices associated with the group ofsubscribers, the delivery of the common multimedia item to the group ofdevices being scheduled based on a number of subscribers in the group ofsubscribers whose queues each store the identifier of the commonmultimedia item; and notifying the group of devices associated with thegroup of subscribers to record when delivery of the common multimediaitem is scheduled to occur.
 9. The non-transitory machine-accessiblemedium of claim 8, wherein the scheduling includes optimizing thedelivery of the common multimedia item based on at least one of a costto deliver the common multimedia item, a price paid by subscribers forthe common multimedia item, a bandwidth load associated with thedelivery of the common multimedia item, or schedules of other differentdeliveries of other different multimedia items.
 10. The non-transitorymachine-accessible medium of claim 8 further comprising instructions forinitiating the delivery of the common multimedia item over a network.11. The non-transitory machine-accessible medium of claim 10, whereinthe scheduling of the delivery includes scheduling a series ofsub-deliveries that represent a single delivery.